AUGUSTA, Maine — Fourth-seeded Edward Little of Auburn outscored No. 5 Cheverus of Portland 10-0 over the final 60 seconds of play to rally for a 46-43 victory in a Class AA boys basketball quarterfinal Thursday evening at the Augusta Civic Center.
Coach Mike Adams’ Red Eddies (11-8) advance to face top-seeded and two-time defending regional champion Portland (17-1) in Tuesday’s semifinals.
Cheverus ended its season with a 9-10 record.
Cheverus took the lead midway through the fourth quarter and seemed on its way to victory, up 43-36 after an inside basket by Andrew Roberts with 1:08 remaining.
But the Stags, who were hampered by 20 turnovers during the contest, struggled to maintain possession during the final minute against full-court defensive pressure Edward Little applied in an effort to come back.
C.J. Jipson made two free throws for Edward Little after grabbing an offensive rebound to cut the gap to 43-38 with one minute remaining, and Jared Norcross Plourde followed in his own miss after a Cheverus turnover to make it a one-possession game with 38.2 seconds to play.
Norcross Plourde then stole an inbounding pass after a Cheverus timeout — his fifth steal of the game — and scored uncontested to narrow the deficit to 43-42 with still 33 seconds left.
After Cheverus forward Jack Casale missed the front end of a one-and-one with 19.9 seconds to go, Norcross Plourde scored on a drive to give Edward Little a stunning 44-43 lead.
Cheverus had one last possession, but Jipson stole an inbounding pass from midcourt with 6.9 seconds left and drove for an uncontested layup for the game’s final points.
Norcross Plourde finished the game with 20 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, and guard Samatar Iman added nine points and Jipson dished out five assists.
Casale led Cheverus with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Roberts had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Austin Boudreau scored six points and had six assists.
Darby Shea’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left corner kicked off a 15-4 Edward Little run that gave the Red Eddies a 21-15 advantage.
Edward Little had early trouble getting inside Cheverus’ 2-3 zone, but two 3-pointers by Shea and a similar long-range shot by Iman made the difference during a first half when each team’s offense was hindered by nine turnovers.
